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Housing advocates question fairness in implementation of National Mortgage Settlement

CLEVELAND, OH – Housing and consumer advocates have long questioned whether homeowner relief given under requirements of the National Mortgage Settlement is being given fairly to borrowers in communities hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis. This week groups voiced their concerns to the federal judge assigned to the case.

In a letter to U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer 17 groups including Americans for Financial Reform, Consumer Federation of America, Woodstock Institute, ESOP and others requested fair housing data on the implementation of the settlement.

"We are writing because we work with and are concerned about the communities and families who should be seeing improved processes, fairer mortgage servicing outcomes and compensation for illegally completed foreclosures as a result of the federal / state mortgage servicing settlement. We are deeply worried that the goals of the settlement are not being met fairly, and we urge you to require full public disclosure of the distribution of principal reduction and other loan modification benefits under the settlement so that you, the signatory parties, and the public can evaluate the outcomes adequately."

Advocates are particularly concerned that servicer-defendants may not be complying with state and federal fair housing laws.

This is not the first time groups have voiced their concerns. In previous letters to NMS Monitor Joseph Smith housing advocates have made three basic requests:

Use the Monitor’s access to loan-level servicer data to show which neighborhoods are receiving homeowner relief under the settlement;

Aggressively, immediately, and regularly monitor fair lending concerns, and make that process transparent to the public; and

Fully audit fair lending compliance before relieving any of the servicers from their obligations under the settlement.

But so far neither the monitor nor the lenders have provided the information.

"We want to make sure the communities that were devastated by the crisis get their fair share of the relief mandated under the settlement," said Paul Bellamy, Director of Research and Development for Empowering and Strengthening Ohio’s People.

### (Read full letter below)

Empowering and Strengthening Ohio's People (ESOP) is a HUD-approved foreclosure prevention counseling agency. We have nine offices across Ohio to help urban, suburban and rural homeowners. ESOP has been on the frontlines of the predatory lending and foreclosure epidemic since 1999, combining community organizing, foreclosure prevention and advocacy.

May 23, 2013

Judge Rosemary M. Collyer United States District Court for the District of Columbia 333 Constitution Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20001

We are writing because we work with and are concerned about the communities and families who should be seeing improved processes, fairer mortgage servicing outcomes and compensation for illegally completed foreclosures as a result of the federal / state mortgage servicing settlement. We are deeply worried that the goals of the settlement are not being met fairly, and we urge you to require full public disclosure of the distribution of principal reduction and other loan modification benefits under the settlement so that you, the signatory parties, and the public can evaluate the outcomes adequately.

New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has already brought public attention to the defendant banks’ systematic failure to implement the agreed-upon servicing reforms. In addition, we fear that defendants’ discretionary distribution of consumer relief under the settlement has systematically left minority homeowners and neighborhoods behind. It would be a disastrous result if the settlement compounded the disparate impact of the foreclosure crisis on communities of color by denying these communities a fair share of relief.

We are concerned that the servicer-defendants may not be complying with state and federal fair housing laws; and paragraph 17 of the consent order makes it clear that they must do so: Nothing in this Consent Judgment shall relieve Defendant of its obligation to comply with applicable state and federal law. We therefore ask that the defendants be required to report data that would make it possible to evaluate this aspect of their performance, including the census tract (along with the type and amount of relief) for each mortgage adjustment that they are claiming towards their obligations under the Mortgage Settlement.

For more detail, please see the attached letter to Joseph Smith, the settlement Monitor, which lays out why we believe this is a matter of central importance to achieving the goals of the National Mortgage Settlement.

The letter to Mr. Smith makes three basic requests:

Use the Monitor’s access to loan-level servicer data to show which neighborhoods are receiving homeowner relief under the settlement;

Aggressively, immediately, and regularly monitor fair lending concerns, and make that process transparent to the public; and

Fully audit fair lending compliance before relieving any of the servicers from their obligations under the settlement.

Unfortunately, while we have raised these concerns repeatedly with Mr. Smith, and proposed a variety of ways to address them, no actions to make the data public or to measure fair lending compliance have been taken. The servicers who are subject to the settlement also appear to be strongly resisting any requests for this data.

As a practical matter the only way for us, the Monitor, the Court, and the American people to be assured that the fair housing laws are being followed is to have data on who has received what kind of assistance through the settlement.

We understand that tracking protected class status by borrower is sometimes problematic for reasons of privacy. With careful protection of personally identifiable information (PII), census tract information can provide a simple, albeit imperfect, proxy for measuring race and ethnicity. Given the large number of transactions involved, census tract level data would provide meaningful information about fair lending compliance under the remediation terms of the settlement.

A number of features of the housing market and the structure of the settlement make us particularly concerned that absent data collection , analysis, and corrective action if necessary there is grave danger that relief will go to wealthier and whiter communities, while lower income homeowners and homeowners of color will be left behind. These include the fact that it is simpler - and therefore cheaper - for servicers to get the same amount of credit under the settlement for adjusting one large mortgage than for adjusting multiple smaller loans.

We urge action to collect the relevant data soon, as the banks party to the settlement are moving quickly to complete their obligations to fulfill the agreement. It would be tragic to learn that fair housing violations occurred after the fact, when it is too late to remedy them.

Respectfully,

Americans for Financial Reform Campaign for a Fair Settlement Coalition on Homelessness & Housing in Ohio (COHHIO) Community Legal Services Philadelphia, PA. Consumer Action Consumer Federation of America Empowering & Strengthening Ohio’s People Homes on the Hill Leadership Center for the Common Good Miami Valley Fair Housing National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations National People’s Action New Jersey Citizen Action Ohio CDC Association Toledo Fair Housing Woodstock Institute Working in Neighborhoods

Did you know a child shot earlier this month at a New
Orleans Mother’s Day parade had been shot less than a year earlier on his 10th
birthday? How can we allow this culture of gun violence to continue in
America?

Children and teens in Louisiana are among the most at-risk for
gun violence in the nation. How have
state legislators responded? By
introducing 19 bills to protect guns,
not children. That’s why our office in
New Orleans set up a “Protect Children, Not Guns” display table in the Capitol
Rotunda for two days this month and used the opportunity to educate legislators
and advocates by sharing CDF’s gun fact sheets. Some of the legislators left the tables wearing CDF's “Protect Children,
Not Guns” buttons.

Five months after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School a child
or teen is shot by a gun every 30 minutes, and yet Congress has failed to pass
any common sense gun safety legislation to protect children, not guns.

Here’s What You Can Do:

Make your presence known! Follow the example of
our Louisiana office, set up a table in your state capitol and hand out “Protect
Children, Not Guns” bumper stickers and buttons and “The Truth About Guns” fact
sheet. Order yours today.

Blog about it! Join CDF, MomsRising.org and
others for a blog carnival on June 14, the sixth anniversary of the Sandy Hook
massacre.

Raised by a single mother, with his father in prison,
Michael Tubbs was determined to make a difference and determined to stay out of the Cradleto Prison Pipeline™. He went on to become
a Truman Scholar, graduating with bachelor's and master's degrees from Stanford University last
spring and becoming the youngest City Council member in Stockton, California’s
history last fall. But that hardly scratches the surface of why we celebrate
Michael—his work with youth in his home city has been unrelenting, teaching
them the leadership, civic engagement, and social justice principles he learned
as a part of CDF’s Young Advocate Leadership Training (YALT®)
program.

Next
month Michael will share his story and insights as a panelist during the
CDF-ETS Achievement Gap Symposium, “Black Male Teens: Moving to Success in the
High School Years.” Learn more about the
unique challenges facing young Black men and examine the most effective
practices schools and communities should adopt in order to help close
achievement gaps and foster college and career success. Waiting list only available for the
Washington, D.C. event on June 24.

Early Learning Day of Action

The President has laid the groundwork for an important historic
investment in early learning. Now it’s up to us to make sure it happens. Join us in the Strong Start for Children
campaign for a day of action next week to support investments to ensure our
youngest, most vulnerable children are ready to learn. On June 5, participate
in a blog carnival, write letters to the editor and op-eds, and join in a tweetchat
with the experts, including Secretary of Education Arne Duncan from 2 p.m. – 3
p.m. Contact your members of Congress TODAY and let them know you support the
President’s Early Learning and Child Development Initiative.

Beat the Odds® Program

Growing up hungry and homeless first in Mexico and then in the United States, Maria Cruz Mendiola has persevered
and now hopes to help others. Maria remembers waking up one night while
living in a cardboard box and “telling myself that I needed to do
something more for the world.” She aims to be a doctor involved in
international activism. Maria is one of four extraordinary youth
celebrated earlier this month by CDF-Minnesota through their Beat the Odds scholarship and leadership development program. Check out the stories of these amazing youths with their video biographies, produced by our long-time friends at We Are Fallon. Next week, CDF-Texas will celebrate their own set of heroes and sheroes at an awards luncheon in Houston. Donate to support the Beat the Odds scholarship and leadership development program.

Monday, May 27, 2013

Guest Speaker: William Pickard, former director of the Cleveland NAACP and now Detroit entrepreneur Awards will be given for work in fostering the principles of the civil rights organization. Arnold Pinkney Rev. Ken Chalker Shayla King Devon White U.S. Rep Marcia FudgeScholarship Awards will be given to students recognized for academic achievementContact (for tix and info): NAACP 216.231.6260

Friday, May 24, 2013

Ka’Nard Allen has
been shot twice in his 10-year-old life. On May 12 he went with his mother to
the annual Mother’s Day second line parade in New Orleans. When two gunmen shot
into the line of participants—men, women and children—Ka’Nard’s cheek was
struck by a bullet. Eighteen other people were wounded including a 10-year-old
girl. Less than a year ago, at Ka’Nard’s 10th birthday party in his
front yard, his five-year-old cousin Brianna Allen was fatally shot by an AK-47,
and he was shot in the neck.

Now, with his 11th
birthday coming up on May 29, Ka’Nard’s mother doesn’t know where to have the
party. He wants to go to a hotel, swim in the pool, and stay overnight, he told
a reporter for the Times-Picayune,
but his mother said she can’t afford it. She doesn’t know where to let him play
that will be safe, and he remains at risk because she can’t afford to move.

I have written
this before and I write it again now: The psychological and emotional toll of
gun violence on children, whether they are bystanders or victims, can be
overwhelming and last for years.

A recent screening
of 232 New Orleans middle school students who were part of a teen pregnancy
prevention program found that 44 percent had someone close to them murdered, 29
percent had witnessed an assault with a weapon, and 14 percent had witnessed a
murder. More than half the children classified concerns about “personal safety”
as a source of worry, more than twice the number who worried about “being
unloved.” “At least a third of our kids are experiencing symptoms of depression
and post-traumatic stress disorder, which on a simple level means it is hard to
attend school and do well,” said Dr.
Denese Shervington, a psychiatrist who heads the Institute of Women and Ethnic
Studies that ran the program and conducted the screening.

John C. Raphael,
the pastor of a church in the neighborhood where Ka’Nard lives, told Pulitzer
Prize-winning journalist Julia Cass on assignment for the Children’s Defense
Fund that children who regularly hear gunfire and see dead bodies on the street
become acclimatized to violence and learn that violence is the way to solve
conflicts. “They’re afraid but they can’t escape so they harden themselves to
survive. They become numb to what should be emotionally disturbing and accept
it as a norm, as the community does.”

As a nation we seem
to be hardened and numb to what should be emotionally disturbing when we cannot
legislate the most modest and reasonable measures for national gun safety even
after children in as seemingly safe a place as Newtown, Connecticut, far from
an inner city, can be shot down in school. We are numb when the same child can
be shot one year at his own birthday party and shot again the next year at a
Mother’s Day parade and both shootings are just another day on our cities’
streets. Why are we not all calling our legislators and expressing outrage? How
can we let the voices of gun dealers and manufacturers drown out the cries of
children?

Pastor Raphael
pointed out another consequence of rampant gun violence in places like New
Orleans, Chicago, and Newark: Young men become locked into a situation where
they feel they have to retaliate to protect themselves and to be respected. When
a culture teaches its children that violence is a way to resolve conflicts, “if
your brother or friend is shot, you think you have to strike back,” he said.
“Sometimes, the family members or friends of the shooter assume you will
retaliate and go after you preemptively.”

Retaliation is
said to be the motive for the Mother’s Day shooting. Police said that the
brothers, aged 19 and 24, who are charged with the crime, were part of a
loosely organized neighborhood drug gang and were shooting at a member or
members of a rival group. The shooting was related to two previous ones, police
said. The childhood experiences of the accused brothers have not been revealed,
but it would take numbness to violence to shoot into a crowd with women and
children.

In Pastor
Raphael’s view, New Orleans “has a spiritual problem. It is beyond criminal. It
is a spiritual problem when in a high population area you see children and you
shoot into them.”

America has a spiritual
problem when it protects guns rather than children. Since 1963, more than 166,000
children and teens have died from guns on American soil—more than triple the
number of U.S. soldiers killed in the Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq wars combined.
It is beyond criminal that we allow so many children to suffer and die. It is
spiritual deadness.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Individuals and the Affordable Care Act

The health care law helps improve care and lower costs
for healthy individuals and people with health conditions. When key
parts of the health care law take effect in 2014, there’ll be a new way
to get health insurance: the Health Insurance Marketplace. The Marketplace is designed to help you find health insurance that fits your budget, with less hassle.

Healthy Individuals and the Affordable Care Act

Even
if you’re healthy now, sooner or later there will come a time when you
will need health insurance. Not having health insurance when you need it
can result in large amounts of debt and bad credit ratings. Worrying
about health insurance and the cost of your care is the last thing you
want to do. The Affordable Care Act is expanding your options for health
insurance and making them more affordable.Find out how you can get a break on costs.

5 Things to Know for Healthy Individuals

Parents have new options to cover their children.
If you have children under age 26, you can insure them if your policy
allows for dependent coverage. The only exception is if you have an
existing job-based plan, and your children can get their own job-based
coverage.

Starting
in 2014, if your income is less than the equivalent of about $88,000
for a family of four today and your job doesn’t offer affordable
coverage, you may get tax credits to help pay for insurance.

Individuals with Health Conditions and the Affordable Care Act

If
you have a health condition, you know how important having health
insurance is and how expensive it can be. Worrying about where to get
coverage and the cost of your care is the last thing you want to do when
you are dealing with chronic illness. The health care law is expanding
your options for health insurance and making them more affordable.

Starting
in 2014, if your income is less than the equivalent of about $88,000
for a family of four today, and your job doesn’t offer affordable
coverage, you may get tax credits to help pay for insurance.

If you have insurance and have problems with your plan or questions about your coverage, get help through the Consumer Assistance Program.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Internet
security experts say a surge in email hacking is putting your financial
and other personal data under siege, but there are some basic defenses
that can be built in just minutes."CONTINUED HERE

Day
after day, police officers in every corner of America suit up, put on
the badge, and carry out their sworn duty to protect and serve. They
step out the door every morning without considering bravery or heroics.
They stay focused on meeting their responsibilities. They concentrate on
keeping their neighborhoods safe and doing right by their fellow
officers. And with quiet courage, they help fulfill the demanding yet
vital task of shielding our people from harm. It is work that deserves
our deepest respect — because when darkness and danger would threaten
the peace, our police officers are there to step in, ready to lay down
their lives to protect our own.

This week, we pay
solemn tribute to men and women who did. Setting aside fear and doubt,
these officers made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve the rule of law
and the communities they loved. They heard the call to serve and
answered it; braved the line of fire; charged toward the danger. Our
hearts are heavy with their loss, and on Peace Officers Memorial Day,
our Nation comes together to reflect on the legacy they left us.

As
we mark this occasion, let us remember that we can do no greater
service to those who perished than by upholding what they fought to
protect. That means doing everything we can to make our communities
safer. It means putting cops back on the beat and supporting them with
the tools and training they need. It means getting weapons of war off
our streets and keeping guns out of the hands of criminals —
common-sense measures that would reduce gun violence and help officers
do their job safely and effectively.

Together, we can
accomplish those goals. So as we take this time to honor law enforcement
in big cities and small towns all across our country, let us join them
in pursuit of a brighter tomorrow. Our police officers serve and
sacrifice on our behalf every day, and as citizens, we owe them nothing
less than our full and lasting support.

By a joint
resolution approved October 1, 1962, as amended (76 Stat. 676), and by
Public Law 103-322, as amended (36 U.S.C. 136-137), the President has
been authorized and requested to designate May 15 of each year as “Peace
Officers Memorial Day” and the week in which it falls as “Police Week.”

NOW,
THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America,
do hereby proclaim May 15, 2013, as Peace Officers Memorial Day and May
12 through May 18, 2013, as Police Week. I call upon all Americans to
observe these events with appropriate ceremonies and activities. I also
call on Governors of the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, officials of the other territories subject to the jurisdiction of
the United States, and appropriate officials of all units of government,
to direct that the flag be flown at half-staff on Peace Officers
Memorial Day. I further encourage all Americans to display the flag at
half-staff from their homes and businesses on that day.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this tenth day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand thirteen, and of
the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and
thirty-seventh.

Monday, May 13, 2013

Tickets for our Luncheon can be purchased
from any of our members. For those of you who have attended in the past you
know what a good time we share together and hopefully you can attend this year.
We thank you for your support in advance!!!

Contact
Jackki Boyd 216-526-1275 or Felecia Tinker 216-382-4203 to get your tickets if
you are not connected to any particular member.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Despite Slight Decline Ohio Foreclosures Still High

CLEVELAND, OH – Today the Ohio Supreme Court released foreclosure numbers for 2012 and even though there has been a slight decrease in the overall number of foreclosures there is still a serious foreclosure crisis in Ohio.

The number of Ohio foreclosure case filings decreased in 2012 by 1.5 percent. That’s about 1,000 fewer cases than in 2011. But there were still 70,469 new residential, commercial, and tax foreclosure case filings in 2012.

“There is still a lot of work to be done to help Ohio homeowners,” said Roslyn Quarto, ESOP’s Executive Director. “We are not surprised by the foreclosure numbers released today. It matches up with what we’re seeing at our offices all over the state.”

ESOP foreclosure prevention advocates are swamped every week with people who need help. Many of the people we’re seeing have suffered a loss of income. Companies making layoffs or cutting back workers’ hours are still putting a crunch on family budgets.

Today’s numbers underscore the need for continued funding of foreclosure prevention counseling and relief programs that help keep families in their homes and stabilize communities. “Now is not the time to slash funding for housing counseling," said Quarto. "As legislators prepare the budget for next year it is critical that they recognize the important work of housing counselors as an investment in financially stable families and communities and an essential part of fueling the housing recovery.”

ESOP is a HUD-approved foreclosure prevention counseling agency. We have nine offices across Ohio to help urban, suburban and rural homeowners. ESOP has been on the frontlines of the predatory lending and foreclosure epidemic since 1999, combining community organizing, foreclosure prevention and advocacy.

The Red Carpet
Achievement Awards is the annual entrepreneurial awards program of Women
Entrepreneurs Of America in support of disadvantaged women in Business.

The Red Carpet symbol
represents the excitement of a premiere or special event, yet also
serves to envision hospitality, embracing the community, and works as a
symbol that brings people to a venue, an opportunity and certainly an
opportunity to share information about someone who had been a true
unsung entrepreneur in its business.

The Red Carpet Achievement
Awards for Women Entrepreneurs, the mission is to raise the profile of
exemplary companies and individuals among the press, the business
community, and the general public. In short order the Red Carpet
Achievement Award Even has become one of WEAs most coveted awards,
Yolanda Lamar-Wilder, Founder and CEO states, "this will be the
Entrepreneurs Own Oscar Awards Nite."

The Red Carpet
Achievement Awards are to be presented to a minimum of four and a
maximum of 10 recipients. It is highly desired that recipients attend
the event in person to receive this award. To be considered for the
award a bio or reasons for nomination for a particular person, group,
organization or business must be submitted in writing to WEA, Inc.

Mission
Considerations: Extensive support to WEA, Inc. and the Greater
Cleveland community, including any or all of the following and/or other
related areas to business, community and etc.: Teaching, Directing,
Promotional, Administrative, Experimental, Educational, Fundraising,
Outreach, Development, Production, and Community Service.

The career tech department represents the Skills USA Youth club.
Teachers in this club encourage and develop skills with students in the
areas of leadership, civic consciousness, and social intelligence.

Please come and support these activities at the Maple Heights High
School.

The
Cleveland Section National Council of Negro Women Inc. invites you to
join us at our Annual Legacy Luncheon at 12 noon, Saturday, June 1,
2013.

Dr. Cynthia Jackson Hammond, President of Central State University is the guest speaker.

She is Central State University’s first woman president in their 125 year history.

The Legacy Luncheon will be held at the Greenmont Party Center 800 South Green Road South Euclid, Ohio 44121

This year’s luncheon features introductions by Constance Harper,
President of the Cleveland, Ohio Central State Alumni Chapter, “Above
and Beyond” Educator Recognitions, live music by Footprints with Kevin
Conwell and Marketplace vendors starting at 11am.

Watt Nomination a Good Sign, But Homeowners Need Relief Now

CLEVELAND, OH – President Obama’s nomination of Congressman Mel Watt for Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency is a welcome sign of the administration’s commitment to dealing with the lingering devastation of the housing crisis. Empowering and Strengthening Ohio’s People urges the Senate to move quickly to confirm Representative Watt. While this nomination moves through the Senate we also ask the White House to immediately name a new Acting Director to help homeowners who continue to struggle with underwater mortgages and a sluggish housing recovery.

While national trends for the housing market are on the rise, in Ohio there were more than 70,000 new foreclosure filings last year. According to RealtyTrac Ohio has had more than 10,000 new foreclosure filings in both February and March of this year. Families are still suffering and there is still much work to be done. This crisis calls for American ingenuity and leadership. It’s time to use all the options available to protect homeownership, help families stabilize their finances, and rebuild American communities.

The current Acting Director Edward DeMarco has repeatedly declined to use all of the effective options available to help homeowners recover from the housing crisis. He has refused to allow mortgage principal correction despite his own agency’s evidence that a principal correction program would keep families in their homes while saving taxpayers money.

ESOP is optimistic that Representative Watt will show real leadership to help keep families in their homes, ensure fair lending and servicing practices, boost the housing recovery and chart a course for the appropriate role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in housing finance.

Every day that DeMarco remains in his position the FHFA puts more families at risk of foreclosure and delays the housing recovery. If DeMarco won’t act then we call on the Senate and the White House to act quickly to replace him with someone who will.

###

ESOP is a HUD-approved foreclosure prevention counseling agency. We have eight offices across Ohio to help urban, suburban and rural homeowners. ESOP has been on the frontlines of the predatory lending and foreclosure epidemic since 1999, combining community organizing, foreclosure prevention and advocacy.

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Luke 11:9-10 says,

"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

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WELCOME

Welcome to the Maple Heights African American Gazette, created for the African American residents in districts 1 thru 7. If you would like to post your small business, post pictures, post an event on the calendar page, write an article, or upload a video, or be included in our mailing list, please email mhaagazette@gmail.com , or call 216.202.4083 and leave a message.

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IT'S IMPORTANT THAT AFRICAN AMERICANS VOTE, AND THEN ONLY VOTE FOR POLITICIANS (LOCAL, STATE, FED) WHO WILL PROTECT THEIR CIVIL/CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.

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IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT THAT AFRICAN AMERICANS VOTE FOR/HIRE PUBLIC EMPLOYEES IN THE LEGAL/JUDICIAL SYSTEM (INCLUDES THE COURTS, THE POLICE, ETC) WHO WILL PROTECT THEIR CIVIL/CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.--AND MOST IMPORTANT - TO VOTE FOR/HIRE ONLY THOSE POLITICIANS/PUBLIC EMPLOYEES THAT WILL EMPOWER AFRICAN AMERICANS POLITICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY. ... REAL POWER AND NOT CRUMBS OFF THE TABLE AS WE'VE SEEN OVER AND OVER AGAIN.